Small Details

People sometimes ask me how we craft each week’s Huddle Up. After 12-plus years of writing this Monday scribe, there is a (small) bit of a method to the madness. The main driver is when something happens during the week that then spawns an idea of some other past event. We then try to tie the two together so the story is relevant to the industry we serve.

A frequent challenge is that often the main idea comes at a time when documenting it is challenging. They could come while driving, during a swim workout, or like this week’s did – while I was coaching third base for our son’s baseball team. None of these are a great place to write down your immediate thoughts.

So right after Brock’s baseball game this past Saturday afternoon, I started writing this week’s Monday Huddle Up, while an idea was fresh in my mind. Brock’s middle-of-the-pack team had the winning run on third base in the bottom of the final inning against the undefeated league leaders. A myriad of things happened, some opportunities missed, and the game ended in a tie. A moral victory, but one where a play or a coaching move here or there would have made all the difference for a big upset.

As a former basketball coach watching March Madness, it is really hard not to watch games through that coaching lens. I’ve not met many coaches that can just be a fan of the game, without analyzing every little element of the competition. I’m no different, however there are great lessons to be had in life by applying a coach’s viewpoint.

In any sport the winning side is usually the one with the best game plan and then delivers near flawless execution of that plan. Teams that win with regularity are structured, focused, and go deep on the little things. They master the smallest details, they are prepared, and they deliver the goods on game day. From start to finish.

Miss a defensive assignment here, a free throw there, bail a shooter out with a bad foul, or miss a pinch assignment (if you don’t know that last one, you can Google it and AI will bring it up in seconds – the speed of technology discussion is for another Monday). When a game is closely contested, those small things add up. And hey, it’s not only when those things happen near the end of a contest when the pressure is on. A mental error that costs you a bucket (or a touchdown, a stolen base, etc.) at any point in time, they all count the same. Two free throws that your opponent shouldn’t have had the opportunity to make count the same in the first five minutes as they do in the last two. Every action has an impact on the game.

The teams that are the most prepared, that take care of the fine details, and block and tackle the execution on game day win more than those that don’t.

Isn’t it the same in business?

Don’t the most well prepared work teams that are unified in their purpose and how they will carry it out usually succeed?

I think we all know the answer to that softball.

Our little group of baseball-dad-volunteer-coaches spent most of the day Saturday texting about where we may have been able to make the difference Saturday. Is there something that we could have done to get that last run pushed across the plate? We didn’t come up with anything obvious, but I bet if we could go back and watch the tape, we might find one little thing here, or one there, that would’ve landed the win.

As coaches, or as leaders in the non-profit world, it’s our job to prepare our teams. To make sure we pay attention to the little stuff. No detail is too small.

Our primary mission is to put our teams in a position to win the game in the end. That is the leader’s job.

If we do that, and a great player or a great team make the plays to win, so be it.

This week, put your teams in a spot to be victorious!